“There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” ~ Augustine of Hippo
There are times in the lives of all Christians where we feel as if there is no hope for us. We look to the great saints and say, “Look at all the good they did. Look at how patient they were in their struggles. Look at their virtuous lives. I could never be like them.”
What we often fail to remember — or maybe do not know at all — is that the great saints all had histories. Some were not quite as virtuous as we may have thought in the beginning. Some might have dealt poorly with others. Some might have been relatively unforgiving at first. In short, they struggled just as we do.
We need to remember that we are called to a glorious future and that we can all make it there if we attend to what we need to do in the present. Our future is not decided. It greatly depends upon what we decide to do in the present moment.
We are all saints-in-the-making. I often say that when we celebrate our great feast: All Saints Day. It is then that we remind ourselves of our heritage and give ourselves the encouragement that we need to continue struggling for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not the easiest thing in the world. Being His follower means that we have to deny the call of the world. Even more, we have to do all that we can to set an example for those who have been caught up in the empty promises of the world so that they might think about their decisions, turn their lives around, and come back to the Lord.
That is what all the great saints have done for us. By looking at their example, we have been given the encouragement that we might have needed to reject the many temptations that come our way and cling more closely to the Lord.
If we live our lives correctly while here on earth, some day, someone might say the same thing about us that we say about some of our great saints. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that we set an example that gave someone hope in their own personal struggles. Wouldn’t it be great to hear God say to us at the end of our days, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Learn from the past and live for the future.
FAITH ACTION: Live the faith today in such a way as to provide good inspiration to others who might be struggling in their faith.